


As the Force Wills It

by deathbyspaceglam



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Backstory, Bodhi Rook Week 2017, Forced Cultural Assimilation, Gen, kid!Bodhi, language struggles, some hurt/comfort elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-21 00:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10673577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathbyspaceglam/pseuds/deathbyspaceglam
Summary: Even as Bodhi feels like everything is ruined, a chance encounter with a Guardian of the Whills proves him wrong.





	As the Force Wills It

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Bodhi Rook Week with the prompt “Jedha."

Bodhi could barely remember a time before the Empire.

He had been very young when white-uniformed soldiers had started marching through the streets of his home village. At that time, the way his parents talked had changed, becoming less warm and more formal as they'd adjusted to speaking Basic full-time. Bodhi’s older sister, Jula, who had been nine at the time, had struggled immensely. Sometimes she'd switched languages around him or Fayza, who had been four and repeating words. Their mother had always scolded her for it.

Bodhi had been eight when his father had largely disappeared from his life. His mother had explained that he was working very hard so that one day they might see each other again. A stormy look had crossed eleven-year-old Jula’s face. Several days later, she had been arrested for punching a stormtrooper. Miri, who had been three, had cried for hours. As their mother consoled Miri, Fayza had cowered in fear that the Empire would take their father and Jula away forever. Bodhi had assured her that they would see each other again, even though he hadn't believed it at all himself.

Now, Jula had been in juvenile detention for two years. With his father working in the mines all day, Bodhi was always busy helping his mother with housework. He watched enviously as other children played outside, wanting so badly to join them.

Bodhi was on his way to the market one day. Navigating the crowded streets, he heard snatches of conversations, mostly in Basic but with a few murmured exchanges in other languages. He remembered that his parents had spoken another language, once upon a time. He paused, listening to an exchange between a group of old women. Was he imagining it, or did he understand some of those words…?

“May the Force of others be with you,” came a voice- in Basic, but with a certain accentuation that was nothing like how Bodhi’s parents talked or like how he’d sometimes heard stormtroopers talk. Instinctively, Bodhi turned, searching the crowd for the speaker. “May the Force of others be with you,” the voice repeated, and Bodhi found the speaker- a middle-aged man wearing some sort of black and red robe, sitting on a crate, holding a sack that some passersby dropped credits into.

“Excuse me, mister,” said Bodhi, approaching him, “what’s the Force?”

The man’s voice lowered, but his gaze didn’t drop. “The Force is an energy field that connects all living beings,” he said, with an almost reverent tone. "It surrounds us and it binds the galaxy together, guiding everything that happens. All is as the Force wills it.”

“Yeah, right,” Bodhi scoffed, crossing his arms. “If the Force controls everything, why did the Empire take over? Why is Father working all the time? Why is my sister in prison? Why do I have to help Mother with everything all the time instead of playing?”

A sad expression crossed the man’s face. “You’re too young to hate the world, my son,” he said quietly. “It may not seem like it, but the Force has a brighter future in store.”

Bodhi shook his head and continued on his way to the market.

\---

Fifteen years later, Bodhi was reeling from the shock of watching (first from the ground, then from above) as NiJedha was destroyed.

The former Imperial security droid was setting a course for Eadu. Cassian and Jyn had argued, eventually agreeing to bring Galen back to base. In the back of the ship, Bodhi found himself in the company of two other Jedhan survivors.

One of them- Baze, he remembered the other calling him- had leaned back against the wall of the ship and gone to sleep. The other sat cross-legged on the floor, muttering some sort of prayer. As Bodhi studied him, he felt a sort of déjà vu. _I’ve seen this guy somewhere before, but where?_

“I am one with the Force and the Force is with me,” the man was saying. “I am one with the Force and the Force is with me." The Force… _We’ve met before._ Bodhi quietly sat down facing him.

The man’s prayer paused as he acknowledged Bodhi. “You lived there too, once, didn’t you?”

Bodhi had observed that this man was blind. “How do you know?” he asked.

“The Force moves disruptedly around someone who has recently experienced loss,” he explained. “We’ve met before, haven’t we? I’m Chirrut Îmwe.”

“Bodhi Rook,” he introduced himself. “Weren’t you the guy who told me about the Force when I was ten?”

Chirrut nodded, looking deep in thought. “There was a great disturbance in the Force today. There always is whenever there is great loss of life.” He lifted his head slightly, giving the illusion of looking at Bodhi. “But you lost a lot more than just your old home.”

Bodhi thought back, making a mental tally of the things he’d lost. “My family… the Empire tore us apart. My father and older sister- they died in a protest. Even before that, my sister was in prison, and my father was always working in the kyber mines.”

“There’s something more,” said Chirrut. “The way you talk. It sounds like a Core Worlds dialect.”

“What do you mean?”

Chirrut thought for a moment. “When you were younger, was there ever another language in your home? Perhaps one your parents spoke?”

“I think there was, yeah,” said Bodhi. “Mother used to get real mad at Jula for speaking it around me or my younger sisters. I couldn’t say a sentence in it to save my life, but whenever I’d go to the market, I’d sometimes hear people speaking it and I think I’d understand a few words.”

“Baze and I are Guardians of the Whills,” said Chirrut. “When we studied in the temple, we learned many languages spoken around Jedha. We could help you learn your language again, if you’d like.”

“Really?” It was a dream come true.

“I’ll talk to Baze about it when he wakes up. He’s really a much better teacher than me. But I can’t see why he would refuse. Now that he’s looked past the uniform, he’s starting to really care for you.”

Bodhi smiled, allowing himself to imagine a brighter future. _Maybe one day I’ll actually be able to teach Fayza the words she kept repeating._

**Author's Note:**

> credit for a lot of the ideas for this fic goes to AstriferousSprite tbh


End file.
